If you’re getting goosebumps just thinking about a trophy fish like this, you need to check out this video with Capt. Peter Deeks.

Capt. Deeks has caught multiple world record fish and is the guide that other fishing guides book charters with when they want their shot at a trophy fish.

Capt. Deeks mostly uses live bait to catch these monsters, and in the video below he hits us with the top three live bait fishing mistakes and how to fix them (and there might even be a few bonus tips at the end…).

Mistake #1: Leaving Your Rod In The Rod Holder And Hoping For Bites

If you want to catch the “un-catchable” trophies, like 45-inch snook or 30-inch trout, then you need to actively fish your live bait to make it look natural.

Trophy fish are so big for a reason: they’re smart.

They know what is natural, and if a bait is not acting natural, then the fish is going to know something is wrong and not take your bait.

Another problem with leaving your rod in the rod holder is that oftentimes when a big fish hits your bait, instead of immediately taking off and pulling drag, letting you know you have a big fish on, they actually swim towards the boat.

As they’re swimming towards the boat, they’re chewing on your bait, and they’re going to feel the slight resistance of your line.

Once they do that, they’re going to realize something is wrong and spit out the bait.

So if you’re not actively fishing your live bait and don’t feel that slight slack in your line as the fish swims towards you, you might not even realize you just missed a trophy fish!

Mistake #2: Using Equipment That Doesn’t Match Your Bait

The second big mistake Capt. Deeks sees is people using equipment that is too big for their bait.

Remember, the bait needs to look natural to catch fish, and if you’re using 60 lb. leader with a tiny finger mullet, it’s going to weigh it down and cause it to look unnatural.

Everything needs to match the size of the bait, from the hook, to the line, to the rod and reel.

A common question Capt. Deeks gets is, “How can I reel in a big fish with a small setup?”

And his answer is that if you’re not getting bites (which you won’t if your equipment doesn’t match your bait) then you won’t need to worry about how to reel in a big fish!

You’d be surprised at the seemingly small hooks Capt. Deeks has caught trophy fish on.

Mistake #3: Using Too Small Of Baits

They say that elephants eat peanuts, but trophy fish are not like elephants.

Trophy fish are like lions, and lions eat big animals.

To catch a trophy-sized fish requires trophy-sized baits.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw how big of baits Capt. Deeks uses to catch these trophy fish.

They’re huge!

But that’s what it takes to catch the monsters.

Bonus Mistake: Not Keeping Your Bait On The Bottom

Most trophy fish are hugging the bottom.

They’re lazy, they’re staying out of the current, and they want a big meal.

If you’re not fishing big baits on the bottom, you won’t be catching big fish.

Bonus Mistake #2: Not Having Lively Baits

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Another mistake Capt. Deeks sees is people “blacking out” their live wells with hundreds of smaller whitebait.

Capt. Deeks says he would much rather have five big healthy baits that he can put in front of a trophy fish, than several hundred less lively, smaller baits.

Conclusion

If you want to catch trophy fish with live bait, you need to avoid these mistakes:

Don’t leave your rod in the rod holder and hope for a bite. You need to actively fish live bait and make it look natural.

Don’t use equipment that doesn’t match the size of your bait. In order for a bait to look natural, it needs to be on an appropriate sized hook, leader and line.

Don’t use small baits. Trophy fish like trophy baits, and to give yourself the best chance at catching a trophy fish, use big bait.

Don’t let your bait float up to the top. Trophy fish are lazy and are mostly caught near the bottom.

Don’t fill your live well up with too many baits that they become less lively. Capt. Deeks would much rather have five big baits that he can put in front of a few trophy fish than several hundred lethargic whitebait.

These tips will help you target trophy fish using live bait with confidence…

But if you want to learn more about how Capt. Peter Deeks has caught multiple world record fish, you need to check out his Live Bait Blueprint.

Do You Want To Catch Monster Fish?

If you want to learn how to catch your personal best redfish, speckled trout, snook, tarpon or flounder with live bait (which is the best tactic for these monsters) from a world-record holder, then you need to see this book.

These are some awesome tips on how to properly use live bait. I’ve not been extremely successful with using live bait in the past but after watching this video, it appears that I was making all 3 mistakes! Next time I do use live bait, I’ll keep these in mind! Thanks for the help!